Authority and Preschool Disputes: Learning to Behave in the Classroom

Abstract

Conflict is commonplace in teacher‐centered preschool classroom activities. It is negotiated both verbally and nonverbally, often fading rather than resolving in the interactive moment. The teacher or aide steps in to define what is right and wrong, thus acting to mediate conflict and taking up the position of moral authority. When she does not step in, children may invoke her authority in this regard. Children have a variety of responses to teachers' judgments. When children disagree with teacher/aide's assessments of the conflict, they tend to continue the conflict nonverbally until their attention is diverted and they are reabsorbed into classroom activities. They may also directly refute the authority as long as they use humor to suspend classroom rules. Ultimately in this study of preschool children's conflict, the highly structured teacher‐directed preschool context directs notions of “right” and “wrong,” of morality, as a core function of classroom conflict talk for American preschool children. [preschool, disputes, classroom, authority, conflict]